Service-meter.



J. N. REYNOLDS.

SERVICE METER.

- APPLICATION FILED JULY `27, 1910. 1 ,097,363.

J. N. REYNOLDS.

SERVICE METER.

APPLICATION FILED JULYZ?, .1910.

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UNITED srarEsrarEnr OEEIOE.

IJOHN N. REYNOLDS, or GEEENWIOH, CONNECTICUT, AssIGNoR To WESTERNELECTRIC:

COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N', Y1, COBTOBATXON OE ILLINOIS.

SERVICE-METER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 19, 1914.

Application filed July 27, 1910. Serial No. 574,095.

To all 107mm- 'Zt muy concern Be it known that l, `3HN N. REYNOLDS, acitizen 'of the United States, residing at Greenwich. in the county ofFairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in Service-hileters, ot which the following` is atull, clear, concise, and exact description.

This invention relates to service meters for use in telephone exchangesystems and is particularly adapted for operai ion in connection withsubscribers station apparatus to enable the calls to be counted. Itsobject is to provide a service meter which shall be not easilyl liableto fraudulent manipulation and which shall be simple, cheap tomanufacture, eilicient and compact.

In service meters of the class to which this invention particularlyrelates, the mode of operation is in general such that the subscriber,in initiating,` a call, aetuates a man ual key or push button by meansof which a switch includ-ed in a ycall circuit is closed, and theOperators attention being thus directed to the call, the service meteris there al'ter under her direct control, an elect-romagnet beingprovided in association with the service meter whereby either the callmay be counted and the mechanism including the switch restored to normalcondition, or the mechanism includingthe switch be restortul withoutcounting' the call.

ln accordance with the invention, the t'raud preventing means comprisesa member adapted for ad "ance movement in sncf eessive stages and aswitclractuated'during its moven'ient. This member is advanced in itsVinitial sta-ge by a manually Operable key or push button and issubsequently advanced b v means wholly independent oit the key, 'theswitch beingactuated in the latter movement and restored by electricalmeans also wholly independent of said manual key. Preferably the switchis directly engaged by said movable l'member and maintained actuatedthereby, sait. member having a third sta ge of movement during which theswitch is restored. This member is referably in the torn: of a caniwhich, in t. 1e first stage oi its movement, is advancedby directengagement with the key. A spring pressed lever may engage the surfaceot' the camvin such a w' v as to oppose its advance movement during thelirst stage, but to cause the subsequent independent n'iovement thereof.

which a current of one polarity moves the armature in one direction anda-current of the Opposite polarity moves it in another direction, ineither case the stop or 4stops being moved into and out of the path Ota. projecting pin on the cam so that the cam is This electromagnet vmaybe and preferably' is of the type in permitted to continue its traveland allow.

the. switch to bev restored. The spring pressed lever referred to may beequipped wit-h a pawl for engagement with the ratchet wheel of aregistering device, preferably in the form of a counting train. .Theoperation of the registering device is preferably such that `the pawl islifted. from the ratchet wheel upon the initial movement of the cam andengages said wheel only upon the retractive movement of the armatureafter it has been moved in one of its two alterna-tive directions, aninterfering device or lever operating` to hold the pawl away from theratchetunder all conditions except that Occurring when the armature ismoved in the proper direction to register a call,

Another feature of the invention lies in thestructural arrangement ofthe stop controlled by the armature of the ele-ctromaqnet for holdingthecam in the position in which the switch is actuated, this stop beingarranged in the form of steps whereby upon energization of theelectromagnet in either direction, the cam is permitted to move a shortdistance only and is not fully released until when th current in theline is interrupted the armature returns to its normal position. Thenthe cam is thus 4moved only a short distance to one of the supplementarystops orV steps, the switch remains in its actuated or closed position,the object of this arrangement being to avoid premature interruption`ot` the energizing current.

A further feature of the invention lies in .the compact arrangement Otthe apparatus and its accessibility for inspection and repairs. Theoperating parts of the mechanislnaremounted upon a trame piece securedat the free end ot the magnet structure, preferably to the projectinipoley pieces of the electromagnet. The Haiti. is pivoted in the framenear the base or support of the mechanism and the register or countingtrain is pivotedin theframe aWay from the base where the numbers ony thewheels may be easily seen and read through a window in the covering orcasing for-the mechanism, and the spring-pressedaetuating lever for theregister is ivoted between the cam and the register so t atit engagesthe cam at one freeend andthe ratchet wheel f the register at the otherend.

These and other features fof the inven' tion, will be readily understoodby reference to the accompanying drawings and the appended claims,

In the drawings-Figure l is a side elevation of a service meterVembodying myinvention' with the plunger and a portion of its mountingplate broken away to 'show the arrangement of the actuating pawl andcounting train, the mechanism being in normal position; Fig. 2 is a sideelevation reverse to that of Fig. 1 with the train. of counting wheelsremoved; Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 2'With the mechanism in an voperated condition, the plunger being depressed; Fig. 4 is a frontelevation; Fig. 5 is a plan View with the indicator or target brokenaway; Fig. 6 isa similar view showing the target with its operatingmechanism; and Figs. 7 Sandv 9 are fragmentary views showing the variouspositions the cam i v may assume, these views being taken from the sameside as Fig. 2. 4

Likereference characters are used to desj ignate like parts throughoutthe drawings.

The electromagnet 1 is shown as -a polarized magnet and consist-s of twomagnet.

spools 2, 3 connected at the rear'by a yoke of magnetic material 4, the'said magnet spools being mountedl in a vertical, plane upon. a base5.0i" brass or other non-mag- .netic material by front and rear supports6, 7, The rear support being secured to the yoke, is also preferably ofbrass. The usual permanent-magnet 71 is secured to the midset forth are`well Aknown and their combination as shown is merely a matter-ofdesign, and may be modilied to suit different conditions. I will,however, now describe a structure having thefabove well known elementsand in addition the mechanism by which I am enabledv to carry out myinvention.

accordance'with the invention the support Q is in the' form .of a'atframe plate,-

` in this positlon,

and its integral armature supporting arm 9 is extende and carries at itsouter end a lever 10 'pivoted below its center. This lever carries apivoted pawl l1 at its upper extremity adapted to engage and advance aratchet wheel 12 and thereby the train of counting wheels 12. The, lowerextremity of the lever'lO carries a roller 13 pivoted thereto by a pivotpin 14.' The lever 10 has an arm 15 extending laterally from the pivotalpoint of saidlever to the extremity of whichis secured one end of aspiral spring 16, the other end of which is anchored to a' guideway 17for the plunger 18, said guideway extending laterally from an integralforwardly extending arm 19 of the front support 6.

The mounting plate 6 has a forward extension 20 from which projectsanupright supporting arm 20 for a triangular cam 2l, pivoted at its centerto the upper extremity of said arm. This cam enables power to be storedup in the coiled spring 16 through the agency of the lever 10,lsimultaneously removing the control I`of its disposition to theoperator, who will release it in one of twoways according to Whether thecall has been successful orunsuccessful; To enable rotation of said camby saidI plunger a series'of pins 22, 23, 24 project from the outer faceof the cam, one for each cam face, situated equidistant from each otherand upon the depression of the plunger, one of said pins is engagedthereby and the cam rotated. Upon the inner face of said cam 2-1 arealso located threesimilar pins 25, 26, 27. The relation of these sets ofpins to each other is such that upon the depression ofv the plunger androtation of the cam, one of the inner stops or pins 25, 26, 27 rotatesinto engagement with a stop 28 controlled l by the armature (see Figs.3. and 8), just as the roller 13 rides over onto a high point of theinclined plane formed by the suc.

ceeding cam face, the cam being then locked. The outward movement of thelower end of lever 10 by the cam surface upon which' the roller 13 maybe. riding Vcauses the arm 15 to move downwardly and stretch thecoiledspring 16, and since the camis locked lpowery is stored up in saidcoiled spring to 28 controlled thereby. The independent ad- Vance of thecam by the roller after it has reached a succeeding cam face, upon thedepression of the plunger, enables the plunger to be given adepressive-movement just sufficient vto rotatethe cam untilthesucceeding cam face is reached,'when further. depression 1s prevented,1t being remem` bered thatv soon after the succeeding bearing surface isreached 'one of the nn'er pins 25, 2 6 or 27 engages the stop 28cont-rolled by the armatureV and further movement of ereleased upon themove-v ment of the arma-ture and removal of stop iso the cam isarrested. The cam is then maintained under tension due to the engagemenhtitl of the springpressed roller with a. high point of the plane. y

A. pair of switch springs 3l is anchored to the base 5 in a suitableinsulating mounting 32 with their free ends-directly under the cam 21and adapted to be brought together upon the rotation of said cam 2l, tonotify the operator that ,the subscriber Wishes a connection. It ispreferable to so arrange these springs with respect to vthe said camthat they will remain open until t-he roller 13 has reached thesucceeding cam face, when it Will be remembered the cam is locked, andsince the subscriber must depress his plunger a Suliicient. distance tolock the cam, the closure of the switch. springs is insured and furthermanipulation, thereof prevented, the release of the cam and consequentopening ofthe switch being thereafter under sole control of the operatorthrough the agency of the electromagnet which, by the movement of itsarmature, removes stop 28.

Having thus described the means for storing up energy and placing thedisposal of the same entirely under control of the operator, the mannerin which the electromagnetic alternative rel ase means operates and byvirtue of which she is enabled to either dissipate this stored up energyor use the same to advance the counting train and record a call will nowbe described.

was previously stated, thev armature is pivotally mounted so as to bedisplacedv either way according to the character of current impressedupon the line by the opcrater, fili ile the cam stop 28 may be attacheddirectly to the armature I prefer to leave the armature entirely free tohave a limited movement either way before being called upon to do anykwork, since it has been found that in a structure wherein the armatureis called upon to begin Work from a state of rest, it has a tendency torespond improperly, while if given a little play it invariably ,respondsproperly. Therefore, in the present case the cam Astop QSis a pincarried.upon a rectangular-shaped. support Q8 soldered to a U-slraped pla-terflic plate supported by and movable about the pivots 36 and 37, liesbefore and Within the plane of the armature and serves to v transmitmotion from the armature to one of a pair of shapetl plates 34, 35.rthere plates maintain the plate 33 centrally sup ported free of thearmature. They are pir oted upon the common armature pivots and haveopenings 57, 5S on opposite sides of their pivotal points in which arefastened coiled springs 38, 39, respectively, anchored to suitablerearwardly-extending arms 40,41, These springs maintain adjustable stops42, 43, carried by the respective plates, against the ends lof plate 33,and maintain end stops 44, 45 of the respective plates 35, 34, theformer adjustable, against the cores 59, 60,

'the stops 42, 43 serving, to maintain the plate 33 yieldingly neutra-lfver the armature. To enable the operator to have a check on theoperation of the mechanism, e', e., to determine Whether it hasresponded to the charging current, a pair of holdover stops or pins46,47 area-lso carried by 'the support 28 and are adapted to engage andhold said cam in a position to maintain the contacts 31 closed as longas the operator holds her key depressed, which is usually long enough toallow a signal to light to indicate thatI the mechanismhas responded.This position of the parts is shown in Fig. 9.

The plate 35 is extended on the side next i' the lever 10 to form anupwardly extending arm 48, the upper extremity of which is inclinedforwardly and normally engages the rear endof the pawl l1 pivotedat itsmiddle point to the upper. extremity of the lever l0. A coiled spring 50is attached at one end to said paivl forward of its pivot pointand atits other lend is attached to a retaining pawl `51 for the ratchet 12,although these pawls may just :s Nell have separate springs. The arm-48either prevents the pawl 11 from advancing the ratchet 12 or permits thevsame to engage and advance the same as will presently be described.

' ln order to provide a ready means of inl forming the subscriberwhether his call has been charged or not, a target GQ is provided'adapted to be controlled by the movement of the'armature and to displaythe Words Charged or Rebate before a windoW'GG. The arrangement suchthatthe target remainsinthe position last-,moved and is only moved byainovezrent of the armature oppositely to the way it VWas last operated.This may be accomplished in any ivcll known manner. As ishown thearmature may have an arm extending through an or the other thereofaccording to the direction in which the spring 64 pulled the target whenthe armature was last rocked, said spring being secured to the pin 65,upon which the target is pivoted.

lt v-:ill be evident that when themechanisin in the position shown .inFigs. 3 and 3 and an impulse of current impressed upon the line of theproper character to cause the Yelectroniagnet to displace the armatureso that thc upper portion thereof'is attracted tothe nolo 59 the stop 28vvill be removed, permitting the cam to rotate for a limited distancenntil said pin 28 engages the holdover contact 47, said contactmaintaining 'the switch 3l closed as long' as the operator maintains herltcy closed and the-armature attracted, which will be until she gets theproper lsignal that the mechanism has re sponded. The attraction of theupper end of the armature 'has caused the lower end to move freely for alimitedspace and then to vengage and tilt plates 33 and 35 upon theirpivots.. As before stated, the plate 33, serves the purpose oftransmitting theV armature movementto either plate 34, 35 according asthe armature is displaced. The displacement of plate 35 causes the arm48 to move backwardly clear` of engagement with the rear of actuatingpawl 11, whereupon the spring 50 becomes active to pull the forwardportion or tooth of said pawl down into engagement with tooth 61 ofratchet 12.y This would be the vnext position t0 that shown in Fig. 3,the position of the cam being shown in Fig. 9. Upon the release of thekey by the operator, `the holdover contact 47 is removed from engagementwith stop 28 which permits the cam to rotate to normal, whereupon thelower end of the lever. carrying the roller 1'3 partakes Vofan inwardmovement under the influence of spring 16, and the upper endcarrying thepawl has a positive forward movement and, being in engagement withthe/toothl, advances'the ratchet wheel l2 a-ild thereby the train ofcounting whcels on step. The target lthereupon displays the word Chargedbefore ,the window G6. .If on the other hand., the connection had beenunsuccessful, animpulse of current would be impressed on the line by theoperator of the imper characterto cause the electromagnet 'of the roller13 the upper end of the lever 10` outward movement as to swing itsarmature so that the lower portion thereof is attracted to the poleface60. In such'event the upper portion of the armature after reaching thelimit of its unob` structed movement, will lift plates 33 and 34 andtilt the same on their pivots. Theholdover stop 46 will now engage pin27 and' 4,upon the release of the key by the operator the said holdoverstop is lower end' of the lever moves inwardly as before, its roller 13riding over 4the inclined cam surface until it reaches its-lowest point.Simultaneously with the inward movement 'and consequently the pawl. 11then has an before,ibut the ratchet is not advanced,since the arm 48carried by-(plate 35 is not moved, and consequently s ai arm remains incontact wthzthe rear ^of the pawl 11 during lts entire forward movement,said pawl sliding over tooth 61,

-was

notch 52. "The arm 63 moves-to the other side of the opening inthe'target and causes the same to swing to the opposite position anddisplay the word Rebate.

and at the limit of its movement resting in Referring now to the form ofthe indi.

vidual'bearing surfaces of the cam it has been found that the particularcontour or configuration .shown has proven most 'eiliremoved and thecient in service. It will be noted that the I cam surfaces are not butare slightlyl tion beginning roller rests when locked is a comparativelygreat distance from the center or pivoted perfect inclined planes,

rounded and that the porwith the point where the 'point and the distancefrom that point'to f the lowest point on the plane Where the rollernormally rests is comparatively very short. Therefore, the roller ridesdown a steep slant portion,

4so to speak, and since the pawl 11 is at this moment in engagement withtoothl, ready to perform the work these series of operations wereleading up to, it is given a positivev forward movement 1n the passingof the roller from a high point on the plane when the stop is removed,7b

to the lowestl point, which has been found ini variably effective toadvance the counting train.

I claim: l. Ina service meter the combination with a manually operablekey, of a mei-aberv adapted foradvancemoveme 1n successive stage/sysadmember being moved in the o first stage under cont-rol of said key,meansl for imparting a subsequent advance move ment to said memberindependent of 4said key, a switch actuated by' said member in saidindependent movement, and electromagnetic means controlling therestoration of said switch.

' 2. In a service meter, the combinationv with a manually operable key,of a cam 'i adapted to be advanced in successive stages, said cam in thefirst stage being under control of, said key, a spring-pressed leveropposing the movement of said cam during the rst stage and causing itsmovement during .the second stage, the movement of said cam in itssecond stage being independent of said key, a switch actuated insaidsecond stage, and electromagnetic means controlling the restorationofsaid switch.

3. A service meter having a movable cam, a manual key ,for initiallyactuating the same, a device opposing initial movement thereofI andthereafter causing further movement beyondthe rangel of said key, aswitch adapted vto be closed in said further advance,

and electromagnetic means controlling the vopening of said switch.

LA telephone Service meter having an electromagnet with its armature, acam adapted to move in three successivestages, a. manual key for moving`it in its first stage, a spring-pressed 'lever for moving -1t in itssecond stage 'independent of said key, a switch associated with saidmagnet'closed byfsaidcam in said second stage, a stop controlled by.said armature for locking sald cam in its second stage under the tensionQsaid spring-pressed arm,v with said switch closed, the energizationofsaid magnet causing said armature to remove said stop,

said lever, moving said "with a device adapted to rotate, a manual keyfor rotating theisame, energystoring I means actuated bysaid device insaid rotary movement, meaips `for locking said energy storing means, 'aregister, and 'electrically controlled means for releasing said energystoring means and permitting the same to actuate said register.

6. In a service. meter, the combination with a cam,V a manual key forinitially ro tating the same, energy storing means actuated and lockedby said cam, a register, and discriminative means controlledelectrically for releasing said cam and thereby said energy storingmeans and permitting the same either to actuate said register, orpreventing the same in its restoration to normal position from actuatingthe register.

7. A registering mechanism having a rotatable cam, a counting train, anactuating 'lever therefor,- a spring maintaining fsaid lever inengagemnet with said cam, manual means for rotating said camanddetiecting said lever tostore up energy in said spring, a stop forlocking said cam with said lever deflected and said spring undertension, and electromagnetic means for releasing said cam, whereuponsaid spring causes said lever to rotate said .cam and simultaneouslyadvance said counting train.

8. A service meter having an electromagnet and its armature, saidarmature being mounted to rock in bearings, a counting train, anactuating paivl therefor, manually-operable means for moving said pawlto an off-normal position, means for maintaining said pawl in saidposition under tension, means controlled by said armature for releasingsaid pawl, and an arm controlled by said armature engaging said paivl toprevent the same from advancing said counting 'train upon the tilting ofthe armature in one direction and adapted Whenthe armature is rockedoppositely to move away'from said pawl topermit the same to advance saidcounting train.

9. In laservice meter, the combination with .in eleetromagnet, a tiltingarmature, a counting train, an actuating pawl therefor, a lever carryingsaid pawl, a pivoted cam, a spring for maintaining said lever inengagement With saidlcam, a manual key for rotating said cam, therebydclecting pawl and storing up energy in said spring, said cam in itsactuated position, said stop being withdrawn upon the displacement ofthe armature, and an arm controlled by said armature andlying normallyin the path of movement of -said pawl to maintain the i same ineffective`to advance `said counting train upon. the displacement ofl the armaastop for locking'- ture in one direction, the said arm being withdrawnto permit the pavvl to engage and advance said counting train upon thedisplacement of the armature in the opposite direction. y

1,0. In a service meter the combination with` a. manually operabley key`of energy storing means controlled thereby, a mem.

ber adapted to be advanced by said means 4independent of said key, aswitch actuated by said member in said movement, a stop for limitingthe, advance of said member, means for removing said stop to permit afurther advance of said member, and a register, said registerbeingactuated by said energy storing means and said switch beingrestored during .said furtheradvance of said member. d A

ll. A service meter, the combination with a device adapted to beadvanced in successivestages, a manual key fo advancing said device inits initial stage, energy storing means actuated in said stage, saidenergy7 storing means causing said device to ad-..

vance in its second stage, independent of said manual key, a switchactuated in said independent advance, a stop for arresting said devicein the second stage of its advance movement, a register, andelectrically controlled means for removing said stop and permitting saidenergy storing means to advance said devicein its third stage in whichsaid register is actuated and said switch restored.

12. A service meter having an electromagnet an 'armature therefor, aswitch, means for actuating and locking said switch, meansv governed bysaid armature adapted upon its initial movement to partiallyl releasethe locking means while maintaining said switch actuated, and meansactuated upon a subsequent. movement of the armature for finallyreleasing said locking means and restoring said switch.

13. A service meter having an electromagnet an armature therefor, apivoted cam, a manual key for initially moving -said for imparting asubsequent mcam, means dependent advance movementrto s aid cam, a switchactuated by said cam duril'ig. said subsequent advance movement, a stopcontrolled by said armature and adapted 'to arrest said independentadvance movement,

said stop being removed upon the attraction' ofwsaid armature, asupplementary stol adapted 'to again arrest the cam whileI maintainingsaid r`switch closed, said supplementary stop being removed upon theretraction of the armature, cam continues its advance movement and saidswitch is restored. y

14. A service meter comprising an electromagnet, a base therefor, aframe secured at the free end of said magnet, a cammovable in said framenear the base, a register whereupon said l carried in said frame nearits outer end,"

manual means for moving said cam, and an actuating lever for saidregister adapted upon the movement of said cam to become operati/ve toactuate said register. v

15. A service4 meter comprising an electromagnet, a base therefor,aframe secured at the free end of said magnet, a cam movable in saidframe near the base, a register mounted in said -frame at its outer end,manual means carried by said frame for moving said cam, and an actuatinglever pivoted to said frame and engaging said cam at one free end andsaid register at the other adapted upon the movement of said cam tobecome active to actuate said register.

16. A service meter comprising an electromagnet, a base therefor, aframe plate secured to the projecting poles of said magnet, a campivoted to said frame near the base, a register carried by said frame atthe outer end, a manual key for moving said cam, and an actuating leverpivoted to said .frame and adapted to be rendered act-ive by themovement register.

V17. A service meter of said cam to Ia'ctuate said comprising. a ba se,

Van electromagnet mounted thereon, a frame plafte secured to said vbaseand having openplate near the base, a counting train mounted upon saidframe near its upper end, a

spring-pressed lever pivoted to said frame and Ahaving one free endbearing on said cam and carrying at its opposite end an actuating pawlfor said counting train, and a plunger adapted to reciprocate in saidframe plateand rotate said cam to deflect said lever and cause its pawlto advance said counting train.

18. In an electrically controlled meter, the combination with a counter,of an automatically returning, manually advanced actuator therefor, saidcounter being advanced on the return movement thereof, a movablearmature for holding the actuator in advanced position, and anelectromagnet under the control of' a distant station for operating'said armature and releasing said actuator.

In Witness whereof, I, hereunto subscribe my name this 26th day of JulyA. D., 1910.

